Alone
by Thegirlwiththedress
Summary: Sandra was never normal. She spent more time hiding than anything else. Hiding from her past, her friends, and herself. When she meets two siblings, an annoying blonde boy and his absolutely sweet and gorgeous sister, she finds herself able to be able to walk away from her past and change her life forever. She finds herself making a decision that she can only make alone. Seth/OC
1. Chapter 1

Tick tock goes the clock. One minute passes. Time means nothing. Tick tock. It just brings hope. Hope that you will lose. Hope that will break you. Tick tock. Life's never fair. A spark that burns so bright will never last. She should have known. Tick tock. Hope is useless. Fate is cruel. She used to believe in it. She's paid the price. Now she trusts no one, not even herself. No one would have imagined. Only she knew the truth. And with the truth comes a deal. She lost everything. But she now knew the truth. The world that she had always thought was not true. It was completely false. She shouldn't have done anything. She shouldn't have let curiosity take over her completely. Self-control. Tick tock goes the clock. And so goes your life. When the light faded, the world was consumed in darkness. A spark that could have turned into a raging wall of anger or she could just walk away, leave everything she used to know. And she did just that. She left. _Alone._

_13 April 2002. The sun shone down on the house and filtered through the windows of the baby pink bedroom. A young girl jumped out of bed excitedly and dashed out of her bedroom as quickly as her little legs could carry her. She halted to a stop in front of an oak door and anxiously knocked on the wood, standing on her toes to reach for the doorknob which she obviously could not reach. Her soft dark curls bounced off her shoulders as she leaped back in enthusiasm as a beautiful lady with warm chocolate brown hair and chestnut eyes unlocked the door and picked the little girl up. A man with the same dark hair and sea green eyes smiled at the women and wrapped an arm around her. The girl has always been the joy of their life, the pride of their world. She was their sunshine through rainy days. An innocent smile from her would brighten up their day. They would never imagine this was the day her life would change forever. _

" _Sandra, come on. Let's get breakfast." The women laughed as she carried the young girl down the stairs. The girl pouted and squirmed in her mother's arm. At the bottom of the stairs, she broke free of her mother's grasp and ran towards the chimney and looked under it. The couple laughed as the girl came out with a sad look on her face._

" _Santa didn't leave me anything." She whispered. The women laughed, a sound that was music to the ears , and scooped her up. _

"_Santa only comes on Christmas, Sandra. He can't come cause it is too hot in summer for him to. His reindeers will fall in through our roof and on top of you!" She said while tickling the girl. She giggled. _

" _Come on," She gestures at Sandra." Time for cake!"_

_The girl celebrated her birthday on that day with her parents. Also the last day she would spend them. As the day came to a close, her mother started to prepare dinner while her father went to the bedroom to do some work. She was left alone in the living room playing with the dolls she got for her birthday. As she had a tea party with them, a shiny object in the backyard caught her eye through the transparent sliding glass. Her green eyes shone with a glint of mischief against the moonlight. Without asking for permission, she slowly advanced towards the object. She realized it was a wrapper for a firework rocket. Beside it was a box containing crayon-like sticks with red tips. Were they to color with? She thought as she took one and ran it across the surface of the box to see if her prediction is correct. To her horror, a flame appeared on the red tip. She immediately let go of the match stick. __**On top of the box with the other matchsticks inside. **__Flames shot up and flickered menacingly at Sandra, who was choking back tears. Just then, the tip of the towering wall of flame lingered around the curtains flying with the wind. The tongues of angry red spread as fast as wildfire, which it is. She let out a strangled cry, which drew the notice of her mother. At the sight of the rapidly spreading fire and her daughter in life-threatening danger, she couldn't bare to leave her yet she couldn't reach her._

" _RYAN!" She shouted-whispered as she stood rooted to the spot. As the girl's father walked down the stairs, his eyes widened and he rushed over to his wife in the kitchen and saw the horrific scene of his own daughter getting engulfed in flames. He flew into action, grabbing a damp cloth and trying to put out the fire. But it was way too huge. They were late. Time. Useless. If he had one more minute… _

_He hugged his wife and smiled at her." Don't worry," He held back tears." We'll be fine." _

"_I don't care if I'm okay or not. But look at our daughter. She's so young. She has a bright future ahead of her. If she just dies now…" She couldn't bring herself to continue._

" _She'll be fine. She's the strongest girl I've ever seen" He nodded." She will survive." _

_Sandra was not sure she would survive. She was 6. She was trapped. So she did the last thing she could do. She curled up into a ball on the dried grass and felt the intense heat prickling on her skin. Her lungs hurt so bad from all the smoke she was breathing in. She was tearing so badly and soot was smudged on her pale and tiny face. Suddenly, she saw the light at the end of the tunnel. She was there. The last thing she felt before she was swept into oblivion was two strong arms wrap around her…_

"_MOM!" She woke up with her mother's name in her mouth. She was in a white room with the scent of medicine lingering in her nose. Heaven? She thought as she got out of bed to find needles and electrode dangling from her arms and legs. More like hospital. Her parents! She thought suddenly and started screaming her heads off for someone to let her go. Nurses and doctors rushed in to calm her down and do checks on her but she struggled against their grasp. Finally, the nurses grabbed her arm and sedated her with a jab that stings real bad._

_The next time she woke up, she was in a common hospital room where other patients were living in. She looked away and tried to recall. _

" _Sandra?" A voice asked cautiously. She opened my eyes to see a nurse with black hair and piercing black eyes." My name is Ann. I am your nurse. I'll need to check on you today, are you alright with that?" With a muddled mind and a tired body, she simply agreed and let her take over. She did a couple simple exercises and started scribbling furiously on her clipboard. When she was done, Sandra fell back into the bed and went back through a couple days through her mind._

" _How long have I been out?"_

" _Not too long. About 3 weeks though."_

" _What?!" She was sort of astonished at her reply. Why wasn't her parents here anyway? Then it hit her. No, no ,no, no. This was so not happening to her. OMG. No. _

"_My parents?"_

"_What?" _

" _My parents! Where are they? Where are my parents!" Sandra shouted at her. She just looked stunned and looked away whilst clearing her throat. _

" _Your parents…They didn't make it. I'm sorry, Sandra. We will be sending you to an orphanage after you are discharged. I'm sure you'll love-"She didn't hear her finishing. She just slammed her head back on the metal railing by her white bad and knocked herself out._

_Finally, on the 4__th__ week of the incident, Sandra woke with a splitting headache and a bad feeling in her gut. Ann strode in and she plucked out the clipboard from the foot of Sandra's bed and wrote something on it before replacing it and glancing at Sandra._

"_We will be discharging you in a week's time to the orphanage. And whenever you are ready, you may come back to collect your parents' body and plan their funeral…" She felt a tear slid down my cheeks and onto my palm. She couldn't afford to cry. But she did. Cried till she felt numb. And then she stopped crying as she promised she would. She did all the checks she was told to do and ate all she had to. But she had lost her will to live. No matter how much food they force fed her, she wouldn't be able to continue living. She wasn't strong, like her parents thought. She had let them down. When the hospital discharged her from the ward, she was not ready to leave yet. She was not ready to meet her new home or her new 'parents'. But she was forced to. For 8 years she lived in fear and loneliness everyday, not looking forward to life. She made friends, but they all left her for new parents and she was yet alone again, lying in a dark corner feeling numb and emotionless. It was as if she was already a corpse. It hurt to see this once cheerful and young girl look so dead and limp. Sandra was rejected too many times in live. After 6 orphanages and14 foster homes, she saw they end. The worst came. She actually wished she was never alive. She wanted to __**DIE. **__That was the worst part of it all. She was like the living dead every single day, eat school eat again sleep. She was already dead inside. The light had extinguished. Till 14, she was called to the court to testify if one of her relatives were found. It was her uncle. She moved in to stay with him in his tiny shack at the edge of the city of Vegas. When she got used to living with him, she actually had a goal in her life. She gained a new will to live because of him. Her uncle, Jack, was a criminal who was constantly chased by police. Her life was unrest. For Sandra's sake, who was 16, he stopped performing crimes and dumped his partners in crime to take up a taxi driver job. She was in college by 17 when Jack had enough money to send her and buy a new house that was big enough to house both of them._

_Maybe she was wrong. Life wasn't wrong. Time was not useless. Hope was not cruel. Life was not able to rewind but it could continue. Time made a difference in the way she was living right now. Hope gave her a new chance to live again like before. And then a day came when Sandra's life would change once again during one of Jack's normal shifts…_

**Hey guys, thanks for your reviews on my other story**_**, Burnt,**_** and I will also be updating on that ASAP. I won't be able to update that often cause this my last year in primary school and I need to study real hard for it. I know this is a really crappy chapter but I'll try to do better next chapter. It will be when Jack and Sandra meet Seth and Sara and it will be a lot nicer, I promise. I will try to update at least one chapter per 2 weeks if I can. Do look out for my other account shared with my best friends who is mysteriouswriter_ami and 2 others who do not have an account. It will be a PJO/Hunger Games fanfiction so if you like those type of fanfictions, watch out for it! I'll be giving you it's name after we've posted it. We'll each be writing a Character's POV. I'm Willow and Ryder, new characters and demigods.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

* * *

Sandra's POV

I really wished I didn't take Jack's _really awesome _deal of seating in his taxi during his shift and boring myself to death. I'm starting to feel really stupid. Taking a sip of my can of soda, I glanced out at the landscape we were passing by. Suddenly, Jack's taxi jerked to a sudden stop. I anxiously looked up and expected to see some road block but saw a black SUV parked in front of us. Jack growled and got out of the car, confronting two bulky men easily two times his size, which is something cause Jack could really pass as a boxer.

"Hey, you guys gotta move this thing, I gotta go." Jack said in a dangerously low voice.

"Jack!" Said one of the guys as he approached Jack casually." Don't return phone calls anymore?" Jack tried to turn and move the other direction but was block by another man.

"Mr Wolf thinks you're being rude." He replied with a good natured laugh.

"Tell Wolf that when I said it was the last time, I meant it." Jack said through gritted teeth.

"Mr Wolf decides when it's the last time. Not you Jack. "The man in front of him replied simply.

"He likes you Jackie. He hates to see you wasting your god given driving talent… giving fat tourists cab rides up and down the strip. But we're kinda late for that." He scoffed, glancing at me and the cab." And I see now you still have that pretty girl with you…"

"It's what I'm late for." Jack said calmly and twisted both men's hands and slammed their heads on the taxi's hood." And don't you dare mention Sandra."

"You got a death wish?"

"I drive a cab in Vegas." Jack whispered in their ears before letting them go. I liked that part of him. He was pretty cool.

"You're dead, Jack." The men's hands flew to their pockets to pull out their guns when I heard police sirens as a police car drove by.

"Hey! Are you insane? Now move this thing outta the taxi zone before I give you a ticket!" The policemen shouted at the henchmen. They grumbled and walked back towards their black SUV. One waved at Jack with a 'we will be back before you know it' look and smirked," See you soon, Jackie." Then they drove off. I heaved a sigh of relief as Jack approached the cab and clambered in.

"That was… awesome. Oh yeah, you totally rocked it!" I laughed and we fist-bumped each other. Jack gave me one of his arrogant smiles and whistles a tune. As we sped off, I glanced at the rear mirror to see if they were still following us. Instead, I had a first glance at our uninvited guests in the back seats. I whip my head to face the two blonde siblings who were staring at me with confused looks.

"JACK!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and he screeched to a halt.

"What?!" He asked giving me a frightened look. I gestured behind at the two teens and when he followed my gestures, he jumped in shock at the sight of the two kids.

"W…Where'd you come from? " He stumbled over his words.

"Out.. Outside." The boy stuttered, slightly shocked. I stifled a laugh. _Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer._

"I figured that part out on my own. How'd you get in my car? "Jack rephrased his question.

"Through that portal." The girl pointed at the door on the boy's side. I was like, _Umm okay? But excuse me hon, just so you know, that is actually a door. _I rolled my eyes and gave a soft laugh. These must be spoiled brats who bring some money for their first cab ride in their life. The boy sent me a warning glare and I immediately shrank back into my seat and put on my hoodie.

"I'm Seth, this is my sister Sara. We require transportation services immediately." The boy asked as I got distracted trying to smooth down the folds on my black skinny jeans. More like ordered.

"Really? Well I require-"Jack was cut off by Sara.

"Currency transaction. Will this amount suffice?" Sara interrupted whilst holding up a stack of notes thicker than Jack's biceps, which are really huge. Jack's jaw must have dropped three times its size as he cleared his throat to continue.

"What did you two, rob a bank?" He joked.

"Is this acceptable, Jack Bruno?" Sara pushed, clearly wanting to avoid that topic. I was starting to think they really robbed a bank.

"How'd you know my name?" Jack asked, bewildered. Sara pointed at his driving license and I choked back my laughter.

"If we have a deal for your services, we must move forward rapidly." Seth said in an irritated tone, clearly getting impatient. "It's urgent we get to our destination without delay." I began to notice the cars honking in unison, waiting for us to get on with it and tugged at Jack's sleeves.

"You might want to get going." I told him. He looked up and nodded.

"Alright, alright I'm going. Where to?" He drove down the lane, panicking as we reach a junction whilst Seth played with his stupid game console thingy. "I need an address!"

"We must travel in that direction." Sara replied sensibly.

"Well I'm gonna need something more specific than just… that direction." I tried to ignore this really annoying conversation, basically failing.

"We must locate latitude 40.54 cross intersecting longtitude-"Seth rambled on about a couple numbers I didn't try to catch. _Did that spoiled brat just memorized that location like that? _Let's just go with I was really, _really _shocked. Whatever. Jack stuck out his hand to stop him and pointed in the direction Sara gave him.

"We're just gonna stick with that direction." He told the two blondes. I took a look back at the two siblings and studied them for the first time in precise. The girl was utterly gorgeous and had blonde hair to her shoulders. Her striking blue eyes stood out the most against her pale skin. The boy had the same features as his sister but short crop hair instead. He looked pretty cool in my opinion… but whatever. He was apparently still a really annoying guy. _Snap out of this, Sandra._ I mentally scolded myself and drank another sip of my soda. This was going to be one eventful day and a long ride.

* * *

Seth's POV

"Are your parents gonna be okay with you guys spending all this money?" Jack asked suddenly. I looked up to see the girl staring at me and waiting for my answer. I had to say when I entered the vehicle; I had never expected to see a _girl_, in a _hoodie_ and _jeans._ I've always hated girls for their weakness and their huge ego, since they really love to boast about their little life and dresses and makeup I'm completely uninterested with. Like, who cares? But she was a little different. She hadn't spoken once since I entered the cab to talk about her pathetic girl life and she's pretty quiet for a girl. Of course Sara's not like that, but that's because she's different. The girl has dark hair and sparkling green eyes that seem to have a glint of mischievousness in it. She seemed fine and not disruptive like others except my impression on her is still not good since she laughed at my sister. And besides, she's still a girl.

"We have previously agreed upon our financial deal. If your concern is regarding the compensation…"

"My concern is the fact, that I got a couple of kids… in the back of my cab with a big wad of cash, with a drop off location that's pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Now in my book, that's a little chapter called "running away"." Jack retorted. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, he's actually right. You can tell us if you really have a problem." She finally spoke up in a soft voice.

"Not your problem." I replied harshly. Sara gave me a death stare.

_She's already been left out a lot. Don't give her that attitude._

_What? She doesn't have to be so nosy. Besides we can't trust her._

_Oh Seth, give her a break. She's gone through a lot. I would tell you if I could. It is too complicated. But she's not like other girls, so treat her well._

I roll my eyes. Sara is way too kind. All of a sudden, the sound of static burst through the radio.

"Jack, you better be getting desert miles on that fare. And they better be able to pay. And you better get me an ETA! Capeesh?" The girl lunged forward and grabbed the radio, slamming it face-down and shouting," I'm losing reception, Dominick."

"Jack?! Jack?! Oh, come on!" Dominick shouted as the girl turned down the volume of the radio. Jack laughed and the two high-fived each other. A wide smile spreads across her face for the first time in the entire journey so far. Well, she looks better with a smile. Not that I care. Just then, Sara tapped her temple and frowned, frantically turned around.

"Jack Bruno, the vehicles behind us are indicating a pattern of pursuit." She told Jack.

"There's no vehicles following-"He was cut short when he noticed four SUVs through the rear view mirror.

"At your current rate of speed versus theirs…they will overtake our vehicle in less than one minute." I added, glancing back anxiously.

"Relax, kid! I'm just gonna let them pass." I panicked upon hearing that. _What? He was gonna let them pass? I knew we couldn't trust humans._ Jack slowed down the vehicle and unwounded the window, waving at the black vans to pass.

"Open road people, it's all yours." The SUVS sped up and aligned with our vehicle. Jack gave me and Sara a pointed look.

"See what'd I tell ya, nobody is following us. I'm the king of these roads…"

"Jack!" "Jack Bruno!" Both the girl and Sara shouted at Jack at the same time as the black SUV in front of us swerved and blocked our path. Jack's eyes widened and he quickly swerved to the small gap between the SUV and the desert grass. Narrowly passing through, Jack zoomed off and turned back, cursing and swearing under his breath. The SUV was slammed into by the other SUVs and skidded down the road.

"I said I was out and I meant it!" He shouted at the black SUV.

"Who is Mr Wolf, Jack Bruno?" Sara asked.

"How do you know that…" Jack stopped mid-sentence as the three SUVs boxed our vehicle in and slammed at our sides. I jerked towards my sister, slamming shoulders with her. She looked pale with shock and fear, so I gave her knee a reassuring squeeze, receiving a grateful but weak smile from her.

"Get down now! Hold on…" Jack slammed the brakes and swerved to the right, toppling the black SUV on his right and pushing the one on the left over the edge of the road where it exploded into flames. We moved on until Sara warned,"Jack Bruno, it would appear that we have not eluded them."

Cursing again, Jack muttered,"I'm so over this. Stay down, stay down!" He pressed harder on the accelerator, but we wouldn't go faster. "Look out!" the SUV was gaining on us. That left one last thing to do.

"Seth, no! It's not a good idea." Sara used her mind-reading to know exactly what I wanted to do.

"I have to try."

"It's too dangerous." Ignoring what she said, I pressed back against the seat and felt myself sink in and greeted by the hot breeze. Turning around, I saw the SUV accelerating towards me. I close my eyes and concentrate until I feel a slight impact, a tingle spread through my whole body as my whole body seemed to squeeze up together and shrink, followed by the crashing sound of the smashed up SUV. Quickly, I turned around and sprinted for the speeding vehicle. As if on cue, the yellow car reversed and I blended into it.

"We should just keep moving." I answered hurriedly whilst panting and wiping the sweat off my brows. Just then, I noticed the girl giving me a shocked stare and her eyes were wide with astonishment. _No way. If she found out she'll technically question our existence on her planet. Great._

"Stay here." Jack sort of commanded us and grabbed his crowbar before clambering out of his beat-up vehicle. Immediately, I expected to be fired with questions.

"I saw it." Was all she said as she turned to face me. Her face was ashen and she was biting on her thin pale pink lips. "Are you hurt?" I was shocked that she actually asked.

"I'm fine." I muttered and dusted my jeans. She just gave me a look and replied simply,"You two owe me an explanation." Just then, Jack entered looking exhausted as he started his cab.

"How you two holding up back there? Sandra?" She nodded. _So her name is Sandra._

"We're fine."

"I'm sorry I dragged you two into all of this." Jack shook his head and sighed. Sandra placed a hand on his shoulder and frowned.

"There's no need for you to apologize, Jack Bruno. You're not always the one to blame." Sara comforted Jack, who looked distraught.

"But the urgency of our trip has not decreased." I instantly continued. Sandra sent me a glare and Sara shook her head at me disapprovingly.

"Look, don't worry, I'll get you to where you need to go. You've earned it." My muscles relaxed and I looked back at my tracking device. Our destination was drawing closer. And so was danger.

**A/N**

**So hi again, I posted this chapter early. Reviews are nice, and so are ideas, so please post a little comment for my story. Will be back soon, and if you have any questions feel free to post them too. I'll reply them in my next chapter if I can answer them. I'm planning to only continue writing if I get reviews... Bye for now!**

**~Sapphire **


	3. Chapter 3

Sandra's POV

"We're here, Jack Bruno." Seth calls out all of a sudden. I jump up from my seat in shock, slamming my back against the door. I didn't have to be rudely awakened. This was totally not how I wanted to wake up. Groggily, I scratched my bed hair and realised I must have fallen asleep during the ride. Oh please don't tell me I snored or spoke in my sleep. Much to my embarrassment, Sara was smiling at me when I looked back to check on the twins. Turning round to study my surroundings, I realised we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere. There was an old dilapidated cabin in the clearing, perched over the free-falling cliff. This better be good, I thought, they better pay well.

"Here? There's nothing here." Jack pretty much covered all that I had been thinking about. "Someone's expecting you two right? Doesn't look like anyone's home." He mumbled under his breath. Sara smiled briefly.

"Don't worry, Jack Bruno, we will soon be reunited with relatives." She reassured, her azure sky blue eyes gleaming with pure excitement.

"Okay…" Jack looked unconvinced, but nodded anyways before checking the fare meter. "$720.50… But after everything that went down today how about I knock down 25% and I also-""

"Here."

Before he could say a thing, Seth slapped the whole pile of bills into Jack's waiting palm_. This dude sure didn't know his calculations. _Soon, the twins were already bidding goodbye and clambering hurriedly out of the backseat, practically shivering in excitement. I have no idea why. In no time, they had already disappeared through the beaten down door into the boarded up shack. In my mind, I still remembered the incident. All I could think of was, _they still owe me an explanation_. I know, mean right? I should probably be worrying about them, but my mind was filled with the images of Seth's superman powers of passing through the car. Creepy, yeah. But I had a newfound interest in a certain blonde boy now, but definitely not a crush mind you. Not me.

"Okay then." Jack said, still staring wide-eyed at the cash in his hands. "Goodbye to you too."

"Not okay." I told him sternly, snatching over half the stack. "They totally over-tipped you. And definitely not goodbye."

"Come on San—Sandra!" Jack called out from in the car as I slid out of the taxi and walked in the direction of the house. _Good excuse, Sandra._ I fought a smug look creeping up my face. I heard the door slam as Jack came out of the taxi.

"Come on, Sandra, they gave it to us on free will. Let's go!" I rolled my eyes at Jack's cowardly behaviour. He obviously didn't like this place.

"You're always welcome to stay, Jack, in the cab. Or you can shut up and follow me in." Of course he chose the latter. I stopped in front of the door, and slowly, pushed it open. It whined in protest, its hinges creaking as it opened fully.

The inside was a wretch. It looked as though a hurricane had swept through it. Boards of wood and splinters were lying across the floor of the cabin, and furniture had been ripped away from their original location, sofas lying on its side and table left overturned. I had no idea what had happened in here, but it didn't look good. Those two creepy blondes are so in trouble, I wonder what they were up to in this poor excuse of a house.

"Hey! You guys overpaid! By a lot!" I cleared my throat and called out.

"Unbelievable," I heard Jack say as I ventured deeper into the cabin.

"Hey, everything okay in there? Hello-" A swift movement caught me unexpected and a cold hand clamped over my mouth just as I was about to scream. I was pulled down to a squat, my back pressed hard against a ripped couch as my own sea green eyes widened in exclamation. I felt a breath rack down my neck as a figure leaned in too close for comfort, moulding our bodies together, sending involuntary shivers down my spine. He lifted his face to meet my eyes and I felt heat creeping up my neck when I realised it was Seth, flustered by his act. He placed a finger to his lips and stared me down, whilst Sara placed a slim hand on my shoulder comfortingly.

"Sandra! WHAT THE—" Jack shouted and grabbed a board, slamming it down at me. Time flashed before my eyes. At an inhuman speed, Seth, dodged the board and leaned in front of me, sheltering me from the blow. My eyes snapped shut as I braced for the impact, then the pain to come. Nothing. Just a sound of the board bouncing off and scratchy sounds. Slowly and surely, my eyelids fluttered open. Seth was still in front of me, breathing deeply, almost panting, not the slightest bit injured by the attack. The board had burst into splinters, and Jack stood there beside it. He didn't look appalled, so I could only conclude he hadn't known about what Seth did. Good. This had to be a secret for now. Seth still had his arms around me, leaning against the sofa. He was too close… In that moment he awkwardly moved away, pushing himself backwards and into Jack.

"What just happened?" He stared first at me, then at the twins. Seth didn't answer, until Sara spoke up.

"Jack Bruno you should not have jeopardized your life to follow us. You as well, Sandra." She spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, her pale pink lips pursed into a thin straight line. Seth nodded still deep in thought or in a trance. He seemed dazed ever since after the incident, as though he regretted his decision in saving her. She wasn't hurt, but she felt a pang in the heart at the thought.

"What trouble are you two in?" Jack acquired in a motherly voice, hands on his hips. I would have laughed, if only we weren't in a creepy old shack with two superman twins. Honestly, I was scared.

As if on cue, Sara squeezed my shoulder in reassurance.

"I suggest you return to your vehicle. Your services are no longer required. The girl may stay if she wishes," He said in a monotone. I stared at him in incredulity, wondering why _my services_ were required. That was it. This was the last straw. I wasn't gonna be bossed around by some blonde guy who's like _Hey I'm Seth I'll tell you when your services are required if not screw off._

"What? Why is Sandra allowed to stay? What does she have to do with you guys? Huh?" Jack blasted them with a chain of questions.

"Seth, he's just trying to help." Sara chided.

"We don't need his help." Seth continued, unwavered. He still had an arm around me, and I was starting to feel uncomfortable. He was sending goose bumps up my arm.

"Somebody's already been here looking for it. We simply cannot trust him. Just us, Sara. And her."" He insisted. My mind swarmed with questions. What was_ it_? Who was looking for them? And why? I also realised that Seth hadn't added me his lil' speech of trust. Which meant he trusted me. But why? I didn't get half the things he said. This was not making sense. Sara sighed in defeat, and nodded in agreement, looking up at Jack.

"We appreciate your efforts to assist us Jack Bruno. But my brother is right. We can involve you no further. You may leave your niece with us," She replied. _What now, Sara too? Is she going nuts like her brother?_

"How do you know she is my niece and why would I let her stay with you bunch of hippie crazy people—" Jack was interrupted when Seth's little gadget started beeping non-stop.

"Got it! Let's go!" He shouted in exuberance, jumping to his feet. That sudden movement jolted me to my feet with him, as he navigated his way through the maze of rooms towards a certain destination. Apparently his device worked something like GPS, I guess. He had let go of my arm, and felt all blood drain from my face and energy flowing out of my body. And then BAM, it came flying in my face. No shit, this dude just gave me some sort of telepathy message.

_When this is over, I'll come find you again. And I'll figure this out._

Seth's POV

I had a connection with that girl. Sandra, her name is. On natural instinct, I just wanted to go over and hug, which would have been creepy. So I restrained myself and shook my head against my own desire.

_Yoo Hoo, what are you thinking about, little brother?_

_Urghhh, get out of my head, Sara._

_No, not until you tell me what's going on with you and Sandra. I can tell she's thinking about you too._

My heart leaped out of my mouth. Seriously? She was thinking about me?

_Nothing happened. Go away, Sara._

_You're telling me after all this, Seth. Or I won't let you off._

I growled. Your typical sister. Always thinking wrong about any sort of relationship you may have. Without thinking, I place an arm around Sandra and pulled her close. Oh no. That called for trouble. A burst of power surged through my body, coursing through my veins. She froze, standing rooted to the spot, eyes unblinking. Immediately, I whirled around, looking out for any sighs of danger. All was clear except Jack Bruno in the corner of the room, still shouting at them.

"What? What's there?" I hurriedly asked Sandra. Sara stifled a laugh and clamped her hand over her mouth, blue eyes staring at me in wonder.

"Seth, you are over reacting. There is nothing close by about to attack us, but Sandra is simply stunned by my intimate actions to a stranger." She explained. I blushed profusely, flustered by the fact I was being so dramatic. Sandra's cheeks were flaming red, and well, she looked funny like that.

"Oh. I just…Uhm… thought she needed some…Uhh…comfort." I stuttered, not quite able to make a complete sentence. She smiled at me slyly, as though she was coming up with a plan. Oh no. I despised her plans.

"Hey, just tell me what's—" Jack Bruno's voice broke the awkward silence. Great. We still had a transportation vehicle mender to deal with. I almost forgot.

Suddenly, my tracking device started beeping wildly. I looked at the refrigerator in front of us. That was it. Gently, I placed the device on the fridge and stepped back. The refrigerator door popped open with a click.

"Hurry up, Sara. Come on, Sandra." I whispered to both the girls, who nodded and went on. I would never let Sara go first, so in I went to face an unknown danger. It was dark stairwell, lit only by a single oil lamp. Sandra came in next, and slipped her hand into my mine in a friendly way, making a tinge of courage build up in my mind. I took a deep breath, then continued on. Sara came in last, her footsteps echoing through the tunnel.

"Hey…!" Jack Bruno's voice was distant, but still close by.

"Don't you think we should answer him?" Sandra spoke to me, for the first time since I saw her. I looked at her, slightly awed at her clear and sweet voice. In the eerie glow of the oil lamp, honestly, Sandra looked gorgeous. Her dark wavy hair hung by the side of her shoulders, framing her pale oval face dotted with freckles. Her eyes were wide and glowing in the dark, sea green like the churning waves of a perfect storm. Her pale pink lips were pursed into a thin straight line, beads of sweat covering her forehead.

"No. We move on. We're running out of time," I turned back to continue my journey, and hear her whispering _for what?_

"Don't go in the pimped out fridge, Jack." I heard Jack Bruno say, followed by Sandra's snickering. I found it nice to hear her laugh, even at a time like this.

Slowly but surely, we advanced down the long winding stairs. I did not enjoy the feeling at all, but at least Sandra was here with me. I meant, Sara.

"Hey!" A distance behind us, I heard Jack Bruno call for us again. This was getting annoying, this human.

Finally, we entered some room that appeared to be an ancient looking library, the books all covered in a thick layer of dust. Sandra reached out to flip a book on the table, but I snatched her hand away before she could even touch it. Pacing around the room, I got another signal when we were in front of a bookcase and quickly placed the tracking device on it. It popped open once again, revealing the enchanted forest that could lead to our safe haven.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ellooooo guys first of all I wanna thank all the support frm all of u and pls pls pls review for wateva u guys want in the story and also fav or follow! Thxs and I know this is boring and all but I'm gonna finally do a disclaimer (cue the applause and yawns in the background) So here goes nothing…**

**DISCLAIMER: RTTWM does not belong to me, and so does Seth, Sara and Jack. Only Sandra and a couple other characters to come do.**

**On with the story…**

Sandra's POV 

For a moment, I stood frozen on the spot, rooted to the ground and completely entranced by the sight before me. Plants of a light shade of pink, red, purple and green were glowing in the little forest in the hidden room, growing to an impossibly tall size to be an excuse for trees. The trees gave of a magical feeling, like she had just stepped into the rabbit hole of alice in wonderland and shrunk in size. There seemed to be glitter everywhere I looked, lighting up the otherwise dim and musty forest floor. I was too mystified to move or hear a thing, until a loud yell beside me jerked me into reality. Right, I was still stuck with two freaking annoying twins. Ops, I almost forgot.

As dim-witted as Seth seemed, his reactions were fast. In no time, he was gesturing at Sara and the rest of us to head in the direction of his unreliable GPS and constant not-helping beeping. Talk about frustrating.

"What is this place?" I asked in an amazed tone, even though I tried to keep it at bay. Much to my annoyance, everyone ignored me. Remind me again why I agreed to this. Oh wait, I was DRAGGED into this by some stupid authoritative guy. Following them through gritted teeth, I growled as I accidently stepped into a puddle of green slimy goo. That was it. I had enough of this. Cue the outraged outburst of cursing.

"That's it! You two idiots, spill it. I don't give a crap what trouble you two are in, but you better stop pulling this dirty joke on us. Look, I'm innocent, okay! So stop this shit, best would be RIGHT NOW!" I shouted at Sara and Seth, throwing my hands up in the air. "I'm so done with this junk. I QUIT!" I didn't bother looking at their faces, just stomped off when Jack grabbed me by the arm. He pulled me in front of him, then faced me, staring at me in the eye sternly.

"Look, Sandra, I know this is ridiculous. I have no idea what they are up to, if a couple other kids will come jumping up from these leaves and say 'trick or treat' or some bunch of crap, but from what I'm seeing, this looks pretty convincingly real. And we can't leave two kids here to face some unknown creeper, especially after all that had happened and how far we have gone." I wanted to point out that these kids were MORE than kids, but Jack would probably laugh it off and joke about how I was still into crappy bedtime fairy tales. No such luck. "And besides, you were the one who walked us into this. Could have just left with a wad of cash and smiles on our faces." He shrugged, adding in a matter-of-fact voice. Almost immediately, I regretted my stupid actions. Why did I have to let curiosity kill the cat? This time, I was the cat, and I was so dead. But after all he had said, it did make sense. I couldn't just leave these two 'kids'.

"Fine." I scowled, noting the smiles on both their faces. "Take your time." I added with sarcasm, words dripping with venom directed to no one in particular. Okay, here goes nothing.

Seth's POV

My neck snapped back in the direction of my beeping device. It's solid titanium had grown hot, which meant we were so near it that my tracking device was getting attracted to it.

"This way." I motioned to the trio in the right direction. We turned the corner a couple times until it was just right in front of us when I took off running, sprinting towards our destination.

"Hey, hey, hey!" I heard Jack Bruno call out after me, struggling to keep up but ignored him as always. Finally, I dashed to its side, with Sara hot on my heels and Jack Bruno before a strolling and grumbling Sandra.

"Sara, it's here." I told her in an astonished voice, staring at moving ball, rippling and breathing.

"What a-What is it?" Jack Bruno asked in disgust, backing away from our treasure.

"It is what we came for Jack Bruno!" Sara explained, panting breathlessly.

"Really? Yeah yeah, yet another one of those slime balls I've seen around, and they came here for THIS?!" She spat, rolling her eyes and folding her arms. "So what now, gonna make us carry this slime ball while you scurry around doing shit and then require OUR SERVICES again? You know what, forget it. You won't be offered ANY services at all. End of story, and when we go back up we bid our tearful goodbyes and we leave you here—Whatever." Okay, that hurt. A little. She had an attitude alright. Sara looked dumbfounded, but based on the look on her face I am guessing she's hearing another story in her mind, not the spiteful on that is being told right now.

"Is anyone else lookin' for it?" I looked at Jack Bruno in curiosity, wondering what exactly he meant. "Say, is the person that trashed everything upstairs?" I wanted badly to tell him we were not dumb as he related to us his predicament. Honestly, Sara and I already thought of this before.

"We think so. It is very valuable. Which is why it is vital that we locate it first." Sara replied, then took off her necklace and placed it on top of the grimy creature. The black op on her necklace started glowing green, and I quietly shifted my tracking device on the slimy creature beside her necklace. Slowly, my sister dug a hand into the body of the breathing animal, then I saw a smile grace her face when she pulled out another exact replica of my tracking device. I saw Sandra cringe a little, until she saw the item in her hands.

"Okay, wow. You guys came here for ANOTHER of your GPS, and then what? You're gonna drag us to ANOTHER place to get ANOTHER tracking device and then blah blah blah…? Look, no way. No way in hell—"Sandra was rudely interrupted by Jack Bruno, who cut off her speech. She shot him a dirty look, then glared at both Sara and me.

"What makes you so sure that… whoever else wanted it…isn't still searching for it?" He trailed off, and realization dawned on me just as a jet of fire shot out from the sky, and a wall of flames burst out right between me and Sara.

Sandra's POV

The flashbacks came as soon as my eyes lay on the fire. I had always been able to suppress them by taking medicine, but in such a situation of this huge breakout fire, everything came back in torrents. The orange flames danced around, licking threateningly at our feet. Seth and I had been separated from Sara and Jack and they were nowhere to be seen.I could still hear Jack shouting out to Sara, "Go…go!"

A cowardly and scared part of me wanted to break down and cry, whimpering like the lost puppy I had once been, but I knew I could not. Not for all that my parents had sacrificed for me. I would not cry. I promised to be stronger than the rest. I had to keep my promise, at least this one. Fighting back tears, I scrambled to my feet just to be knocked down by another strong gust of wind. Air was knocked out from my lungs and I gasped, willing myself to gulp down some air only to be able to take in mouthfuls of thick, choking black smoke. For a moment, I let myself stay put, until a blast to my left woke me from my post-trauma. I shook my head to clear out all blurry thoughts when a strong hand pulled me to my feet, weak and fragile, and pulled me along, away from the fire and the memories that were trying to grasp at me and drown me in it.

Seth turned to face me, when a blast knocked him off his feet and a couple feet away. I wasn't too worried about him, after all his superman powers and all, but found myself hyperventilating at the excessive intake of acrid smoke and tears fell freely down my soot-covered cheeks. A throbbing pain was numbing on my right arm, and I could feel something warm trickling slowly out of the deep cut from my forehead and the gash on my right leg. It reminded me all too well of that day…

As I was just about to slip into another flashback, someone shook me hard.

"Wake up! Oh come on, you're not giving up now! Run, run, run!" It was Seth, and he sounded desperate. Why would he sound desperate for me? I didn't know. Pain and the memories were fogging up my mind, making it hard to think straight. But as much so, I wanted to live. The sheer will to do so was strong enough to overcome all. I picked myself up painstakingly, wincing with every step. Suddenly, the ground started shaking and rumbling, heavy footsteps thumping against the muddy floor, nearing us. Seth shoved me into a cluster of pink leaves, pushing me so hard I fell to the floor. My back hit the ground with a painful thud, and I wanted to scream at him when he fell beside me, much more silent than ever. He hushed me, leaning in till his nose almost touched mine, straddling me. And let me tell you, those few minutes were the most uncomfortable ones in my life. I fidgeted slightly under his crushing weight, but quieten immediately when I saw the metallic foot of the monster just beside me.

I felt lucky to be covered by the glowing canopy, but at the same time extremely petrified that this was happening to me now, and that I was in the same room as this …thing. It paused for a minute, and we held our breaths for that long, until it decided to move. After about ten minutes, Seth swiftly rolled off me, just to be scooped up like a rag doll by that metal monster. And trust me, you don't want to know how it looks like. Saying it was menacing was such an understatement, considering how he stood four feet tall and his metallic glossy structure. Pure waves of fear and terror crashed into me, and I scrambled out of my hiding place just to see Seth being lifted into the air, and then slammed into a tree. I could not take this no more.

"Hey! You!" I shouted at Robocop, anger coursing through my veins. I spotted Jack at the corner of my eyes, helping Seth up. He didn't look that hurt, but definitely having a splitting headache from that crash. Jack stared at me, yet unable to reach me through the tongues of flames shooting skyward. Just like… my parents. Flashbacks came this time, and nothing could stop it. My parents, the fire, that day… everything came back like waves crashing towards my brain. A metallic clicking sound spurred some consciousness in me as I opened my eyes, just to see Robocop lifting a hand to swipe me away. In the nick of time, I rolled aside, uncurling from my tight ball and standing up tall. I just needed to stall time for them to escape.

Sara was limping behind Robocop, clutching onto the GPS for her dear life. SHE needed to escape, and quickly. If that was really so important that THAT Robocop wanted it too, it needed to be safe. Even if I had to risk her life for it. I did not know where the sudden burst of adrenaline came from, but in no time I was out of it's way, eyeing Sara from afar, giving her the look. She nodded weakly, scurrying over to Seth and Jack who stood helplessly behind the fire, only a faint shadow from a distance.

"Jack Bruno!" I heard her shout, and let my guard off for a second, sighing in relief at knowing she was safe. Robocop advanced in a steady speed, cornering me. I squinted at my surroundings. There was no escape. I was doomed. Without thinking, I curled into a tight ball like I did before in a fire, not allowing smoke to shroud my vision. And I let out all my feelings that I've suppressed for so long, all wandering thoughts, and screamed a blood-curling, spine-chilling scream.

My longest chapter yet, what ya think? Like it, fav and follow. Don't like it, give a comment and review to tell me how to improve. Am always open for suggestions anytime. Thxs 4 ur support by reading this! .


	5. Chapter 5

**Hai, everybody, I'm updating fast now cuz I'm free and please read and all I hope you guys will like this though not getting much reviews or favs and follows… so here's the deal. Will continue if I get 15 reviews and 20 favs and follows. That's just so I'll be sure people are actually reading this and I'm not wasting my time so, sorry if I can't continue this. Just didn't get as much as I hoped unlike other stories I've seen. **

SETH'S POV

I couldn't watch it anymore. It was only one of the many times I ever felt so helpless. Usually, back at home, people walking by would always give me the envious look. Not many people had the same body system as Sara and I, so they were definitely jealous. But likewise, there were still cons in all these strength. Weakness. My immune system was too weak now, and I needed time to recuperate. Which meant I could not phase through things for as long as Sandra was going to have to face the Siphon. And that I had to sit back and do nothing, just watch her die. It was not fair. It always had to be this times when I lost my immunity. Always. I turned away, lower lip trembling as I lay limp on the dirt, the roar of the ferocious Siphon reverberating through the forest. Sara's fingernails dug into my skin in anxiety, and I could hear Jack shouting something I could not interpret. But I knew Sandra was doomed. No one in my planet has ever escaped the grasp of the vicious assassin, especially if it was interrupted from its own mission. Then I heard a shrill scream, and bit my lips, refusing to pry open my eyes to meet the dreadful sight before me. After a few minutes, Sara started violently shaking me, probably asking me to get up and leave. _Someone crashed on the wrong side of the spaceship. How could she be so heartless and cold to her death? I could understand how important our quest was, but how could she get over this so quickly without getting overwhelmed by guilt? _

"Seth, get up. NOW." I thought I was dreaming. My eyelids fluttered open, and I stared at her, not believing my eyes. It was Sandra, and she was perfectly unharmed.

SANDRA'S POV

I didn't know how it happened, but I remembered how I recalled all the little things that had ever appeared and happened in my life. How I had never actually been contented with my life. The little sweet moments with my parents that would forever live in my mind as memories. How I had finally been settled with my uncle, Jack, and then had it ripped away from me in one incident. About Jack, Sara and Seth. Oh god, Seth. How was he doing? Was he…Okay? How no matter what happened, how I died, I might never actually regret meeting this to mysterious twins. And then I braced for impact, expecting to be knocked full-force and sent flying skyward, then the impending death that would come. But nothing. After awhile, I finally opened my eyes, confirming my theory that Robocop was not going to harm me and that Seth had came to rescue me again. Oh man, I owed that dude twice. Until I realized he was a couple metres away, lying on his side, eyes shut. Okay, what did that mean? Robocop was a few feet away, motionless, and I took the opportunity to run to his side. Jack was with Sara, and both stared wide eyed at me. Okay, that was new. Desperately, I shook Seth, and told him to get up. His cold and hard crystal blue eyes snapped open and no doubt they were filled with shock and surprise.

"Seth! We gotta go!"

"How…how—" He fumbled for words, and I had already figured out I did that, the killing and all, somehow.

"Shhh… I don't know how I did that, but I know we don't have much time left. This won't last, just enough for us to get out of here and escape. Come on, time's ticking, and life's running out." I smiled softly and comforting him, remembering how my mom used to tell this to me in a soothing voice. He nodded slowly, then gathering himself together and looking over at Sara, who immediately stood at attention.

"She's right, we have to go, now. Come on." He stood up with my help, then we walked to the hidden door. Just as we reached the top of the staircase, we heard a whirring of metal just down the stairwell. Seth's eyes widened an inch, and he rushed to the fridge door, slamming it shut when suddenly, a blast knocked him off his feet unexpectedly. He didn't get back up.

"Seth!" I heard Sara cry out, falling to her knees in front of his body. She started tearing uncontrollably, muttering something like "immune system down" and "unable to control molecular density" and some crap I could not understand. In haste, Jack went over and flipped Seth's limp body over his shoulder in one swift move, as though he weighed like a feather.

"Keep moving! Go, go!" Jack shouted, then continued running with Seth in his was the one worried about who just now? Huh? Now who's the one in danger? Who might be the one dead at the end of the day? Yes, you, Almighty Seth. Why am I talking to myself? You know what? Nevermind.

"Sara, lets go!" I agreed, nudging Sara to her feet and we sprinted off.

We ran out of the shack, just before it half collapsed and started spluttering debris, with random scraps of wire and water pipes spitting out of the house. Jack opened the door of the cab, which seemed like a ridiculous way to escape this catastrophe.

"Get in!" Sure Jack, like we were gonna do anything else.

If this hadn't been so life risking and dangerous, the array of lights and fireworks would have been a beautiful display. Or not. A spark landed in front of me and I skidded to a halt, a scream ripping out of my throat. Jack stopped in front to look at me, but I continued running so he wouldn't run back for me or get worried, especially now he had Seth in one arm. Sara almost slammed into me from behind, and shot me a worried glance, before opening the taxi door and clambering inside. I went in after her, not bothering to waste time going to the other side of the cab and get in the front sit but immediately regretting when Jack tossed Seth like a rag doll onto my lap, then climbing into the front sit.

"Hang on, guys. This is gonna be a long ride!" He yelled, then killed the engine. And a long ride it was.

**I wanted this short before I updated again, so here's all I've this time until probably in a month's time. Until I've got a gd number of reviews and favs and follows. Thxs for reading, enough said**.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

"Hey, how's your brother feeling?" I wake from my restless sleep with a start, shivering at the thought of the recurring nightmare I had just had. And I thought it would stop after this near-death experience, but it didn't. I wish it did, because now, I can't help but feel overwhelmed with the guilt in me, threatening to swallow me whole. Cold sweat stuck onto my back like a second skin as I forced down the bile rising up my throat. I wasn't about to let my fear show at a crucial moment like this. I rub my eyes groggily and turned to face Jack, who looked both concern and frustrated. On the outside, he probably looked like those kind of thugs you found in the fast and furious movies, but I had seen the softer and more protective side of him that no one had yet to see. I sat at attention as I awaited the answer, glancing down at Seth who was stirring a little in my lap. Sara looked up from the device she had retrieved from the house, all seriousness replaced with happiness.

"His system has the ability to-"

"I will be fine." My head snapped in the direction of Seth, who had woken up from his deep slumber and was seated upright, not showing a single sign of him previously being knocked out. _Oh wow. Okay. _

"It is important we gain much distance from this location." He added in his all-business tone, causing me to roll my eyes in annoyance. He was not escaping the very obvious topic about that whole level of weirdness we just experienced in there. From pimped out fridges to mini Robocops, there was much explaining he could do.

"Well I am glad you are feeling better. Because you're going to need your strength when you explain to me, just what happened back there!" I yelled out at them, unable to control the boiling anger in me. I had no idea what was going on, and I had never ever felt so lost in my entire life before. They made me feel out of control. _He _made me feel out of control. I wanted to know the situation right now, and not be driven of the road of sanity again. Everyone, even Jack looked shocked, but he quickly recovered and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, here's the deal. The cab doesn't move until your mouths do. So start talking." Jack said, his eyes planted on the twins at the back of the car. Seth was glaring at Jack, while Sara simply looked…tired.

"The information you are seeking is not within your grasp of knowledge." Seth replied coldly, his eyes staring daggers at Jack. If looks could kill, Jack would surely be six feet under.

"We are dealing with issues outside the realm of...your world." Sara corrected, shooting Seth a warning look. Even though the boy looked stiff and emotionless, I knew he had that soft spot for his sister, because his eyes melted from its cold state and he looked down at his device, which I came to realize was not for gaming in any way.

"Hey I am a cab driver okay? I have had many worldly...experien-" Jack's gaze falled on something outside the window, bopping up from the clouds. I immediately swallowed in fear, gripping onto to the door handle tightly.

"...experiences." Jack finished his sentence in barely a whisper as the unknown object flew out of its hiding spot and my breath caught in my throat.

"Sara! We have to go!" Without another word, Sara flicked her wrist and the cab moved down the mountain in a speedy descend, faster than I had expected. I slammed my head on the driver's seat, hearing a string of curses escape Jack's mouth as he tries to get in control of the wheel.

"What is it?" I shout, peeking behind my shoulder to see a metallic spaceship racing towards us, only narrowly missing us as it fires at its target. I gasped as it hits the side of the cab, causing my door to fly open. The last thing I heard, was Jack shouting, "Hang on!".

Sadly, I never did. Without warning, I was flung right out of my seat, and onto the road. Tumbling out of the cab gave me a slight shock, and I hadn't had much time to think. I caught a peek of the mountains, the starry sky, a glance at the dirt path and gravel before landing right in the path of the spaceship. Blinking against the bright headlights, I squeezed my eyes shut in an attempt to hide from the impending reality. Before I knew it, I was swept from the ground and into a pair of strong arms, barely feeling the impact as the spaceship crashed straight into me. That was when I realized the headlights were ahead and opened my eyes in amazement, staring into Seth's crystal blue orbs. We had went right through it. How? He stared back, his lips pressed into a thin line, then ran straight ahead to the yellow cab. I was still processing all that information when we were back in the comforts of the cab, Jack yelling colorful words out as he recklessly swerved to avoid the blows. My side of the door was practically detached, only hanging limply on one hinge. Sara swiped the air in front of her, and immediately the door shut. The explosion beside us woke me from the aftershock of my near-death experience for the second time today.

"Hold on!" I fought the urge to roll my eyes again. What else were we going to do? It wasn't like we were going wave our hands up in the air. The cab dove straight into a tunnel which the spaceship was too large to enter and flew ahead. That was when Seth and Sara started conversing again.

"We can't let him destroy it, Sara." Seth stated in a soft voice, the tone he only used for his sister.

"Who is 'he'? And this time I need real answers." I asked, feeling on the brink of exploding.

"It is a Siphon." Seth answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I looked at him in confusion, Jack mirroring my expression. Something about that name stricked me hard, like a fading memory swimming in the darkest parts of my brain that I never wanted to excess. I chose to ignore it, turning so my back was against the almost falling apart car door and my body towards the twins.

"A what?"

"He's an assassin trained to pursue its target until its mission is completed." By then, Jack had stopped the car to listen to what he was saying. Bad move. A light floats down the tunnel, slowly inching its way towards the beat up yellow cab. Moving would immediately give away our location, so all we could do was Jack had stopped driving, and the silence was cutting me to the core. I pressed myself further into the seat, bracing myself for whatever that thing was.

"And its mission is…" I forced out a shaky breath. Seth turned to me with fear evident in his eyes and looked me in the eye. Jack's hand crept closer and closer to the ignition in any case of a quick escape.

"Us." The light was inches away from the cab, when it pulled away fast. The tension in the air quickly cleared, both twins relaxing a little when Jack drove into another tunnel. I vaguely recalled how this was an operating train station, and quickly, Sara exchanged a worried look with me.

"Is there a safer route, Jack Bruno?" Sara piped in, fear laced in her words.

"Not unless you know how to fly." Jack remarked sarcastically. I shot him a disapproving look.

"Not a time to joke, Jack." At that very moment, headlights flew down the tunnel behind us. Jack's calm demeanor crumbled and was replaced by his panicked self as he fumbled for the accelerator and stepped down on it hard. We shot down the tunnel at full speed, my skull pressed up against the car seat. The cab was making gurgling sounds and was slowing gradually, causing Jack to curse.

"Come on come on, hold it together!" The car slowed even more. "Oh come on!"

I risked a backwards glance and caught the spaceship ricocheting towards us at top speed at the same time I heard the blasting horns of a train. My eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"Faster, faster!" Seth shouted at Jack, reaching for the turbo button himself. After a few failed attempts, his neck snapped in the direction of a whimpering Sara, clutching on to the device for dear life.

"Sara!" She seemed to get it, because she flung her hands out into the air and the cab's speedometer increased to 130m/h.

"Hold on!" Jack yelled, grabbing his wheel till his knuckles turned pale. We were literally flying down the tunnel, the speed of lightning, only barely making it out of the tunnel before the train crashed head first into the spaceship, hopefully destroying the Siphon.

"Watch out!" Seth yelled out, breaking me out of my reverie. Train cars were skidding off the train tracks, narrowly missing the cab as Jack violently swerved to avoid them. One came crashing down in our path, causing my eyes to shut automatically. I'm too young to die, my life just made a turn for the better…

"Jack Bruno…" I felt a sharp jolt in my body and a rough shove as the cab whipped around the train car. When we finally came to a halt, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

I felt blood drain back to my face as Jack got out of the car to check his damaged engine. The twins were having an intense discussion, all while I was right there in the cab listening to every single word they were saying.

"No, we cannot trust him." Seth insisted, a hard look on his face. Sara looked helpless, but she grabbed his hand and squeezed it, shaking her head.

"I know we can't. We must." She reasoned, straining a smile then turning to look at Jack, who had just entered the cab with a forceful slam of the door.

"Couple of kids, big wad of cash. What could go wrong!" He spat sarcastically, causing me to flinch at his harshness. I knew I shouldn't trust those supernatural twins, but for some reason, I just did. Maybe it was something about the connection, or it was just me and my heart.

"We know you are frustrated, Jack Bruno-"

"No, no more Jack Bruno this, Jack Bruno that. I've been asking for answers…" Jack's sentence trails off as he stares back and forth from Seth, who was avoiding his gaze, to Sara, who looked torn between the two. Then, his gaze landed on me and it softened, looking both confused and upset. I understood in some way, because I desperately wanted to know what had happened back there. What I had done.

"You already know the answers, Jack Bruno. We are indeed not from your planet." I couldn't help but notice how Sara had said 'us' in a way that sounded as though it didn't just mean her brother and her.

"That's it… So, that's it? Mystery solved! You two want me to believe that you're both aliens?"

"It is the truth." Seth remarked, looking annoyed and frustrated. Jack looked at him in disbelief.

"Really? Well, you don't look like aliens." He murmured to himself. Seth raised an eyebrow.

"Well, what's an alien look like, Jack Bruno?" He questioned defiantly, his head cocked to one side as he waited for his answer. I couldn't help but feel that Seth looked so much younger like that, when he was lost and not completely in control, stressed out or all serious and mature.

"You know what aliens look like! They look like, little…" Jack tried to find the right words, then continued, "like, little green people, with antennas and laser guns! And 'take me to your leader, earthlings!'" I wasn't sure if I should be embarrassed that Jack actually said that or be ashamed that that was exactly how I thought. Sara looked at me and smiled, shaking her head a little. I couldn't understand that girl. Why was she always shaking her head or nodding at all the appropriate times. It was almost as if she could read her mind.

"He requires some sort of proof. He thinks we're insulting his intelligence." Sara spoke, directing her words to her brother, who appeared to be deep in thought. Jack snorted.

"Ya' think? You can't just drop the, 'we're aliens!' bomb like that, on somebody. Now, I know I've seen some pretty weird things today… but you can't expect me to believe that…" Jack's words came to a dead end as he stared on in shock. Sara had her palms facing out, her eyes trained on the floating objects in the cab. A delighted gasp escaped me when I poked my iPod, which had been lifted off my hands when she did God knows what to them.

"I have the ability to move objects with my mind." I look at her to check that she wasn't kidding and realized how stupid that was when I had evidence in front of my eyes.

"That's impossible." I breathed out, sounding impossibly breathless. Sara averted her gaze towards me and smiled, a full-blown smile that I hadn't seen for quite some time since the incident happened.

"No, it is quite possible. On our planet as well as Jack Bruno's. You don't do it because you haven't learned to use your full brain capacity." Again, I noticed how she said "Jack Bruno's", not "yours". Jack looked like he had shrunk smaller as he cowered from the levitated objects.

"No, I don't do it because it's kinda creepy. And I really would like you to stop." Sara did, but it wasn't because of Jack. She glanced out of the window, eyes wide.

"Jack Bruno!" Headlights flashed in front of us. Jack's hands flew to the ignition, but after much grumbling and weird sounds, the car still didn't start up.

"Come on!" The flying object inched closer, as if mocking us and building our fear. The cab kept making weird sounds as Jack twisted the key desperately, but to no avail.

"Come on, come on!" Jack yelled in frustration. At the nick of time, a pickup truck drove by and blocked out the lights. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Jack looked beyond traumatized by the encounter, then he turned and glared at the twins.

"The explanation's not over." He folded his arms, giving both a pointed look.

"I do not understand, Jack Bruno. You are able to accept that your niece is not of your kind but you are unable to come to terms with us being from a different realm." At that, I froze, not breathing, and waited, for Seth to turn and say he was playing a cruel joke on me because he was a pesky rich boy who just did all that special effect to fool us. But he didn't. Jack looked flabbergasted. His face was masked with shock and hurt, then he looked at me in the eye.

"Sh-she is an alien?" Sara looked grim and nodded.

"She never knew as her parents never spoke to her of that matter. She is indeed, not a normal human but she is a half-breed. Her father, Ryan Chase, is a human who fell in love with her mother for her drive towards science, which must have been the mission she was on before the accident. Her mother was from our planet and must have crash-landed on Earth during an expedition. Based on previous records, we have had few inhabitants of our planet who have had gone missing in space and were never to be found again. Alicia Norman was one of them." Sara looked at me with a sympathetic look on her face. "Half-breeds are the strongest of our kinds. Few have made it alive past their childhood. Your parents must have known about your life being in serious danger, and thus kept this secret from you. They have done everything they could to keep you hidden, but the military of our planet had different plans. They needed all half-breeds extinct as they threaten the existence of our species." Then, the next thing she said brought back the flame that she had thought was long extinguished.

"The fire...it wasn't an accident." The minute that came out, my hands flew to the door handle and I pushed it open, running out. I hadn't known how far I had ran. But I needed it. I needed the freedom for a while, to let my emotions run and let my thoughts go wild. Before long, I realized the cab was out of sight and there was a change of scenery. I had no idea where I was, and how I had gotten here so fast. Though it felt like hours, it was only a little less than 5 minutes. With my hands shaking, I sat on the curb of the road by the signage that said, "Welcome to Stony Creek", placing my head in my hands. Then I let the tears flow, like an endless waterfall. Today was my birthday. I had never wanted to celebrate my birthday, whether at school or at home. Jack understood, but my classmates and teachers never seemed to. When they reminded me of my birthday or sang me a birthday song, someone always ended up hurt. I remembered when a girl had came up to me to wish me Happy Birthday, and I punched her in the nose. They all knew better than to mess with me on my birthday, when I was at my worst, but they never knew why. I was the class freak, the one who hid in the shadows and hurt people for no reason. I didn't really care. As long as I managed to forget my parents' death anniversary, I was fine. I had managed to forget that day, and that was all that mattered. Till now.

It was as though Sara had torn open an old wound and poured salt in it. It hurt so bad, especially now I knew the truth. All lies. All closed doors at my faces, and when I open one that might just be the right one, I face more closed doors. Ones which I don't hold the key to.

Time passed by quick, and before I knew it, it was raining. The heavens opened to allow me to drown in my sorrows, matching my feelings perfectly well. I didn't care if I had sat in the thunderstorm for hours now, but it felt good. I felt clean. It felt like only in the rain, was I able to breath and just be who I was. Where there was no expectations, no judgements, no fears. No pain. I heard the sound of the engine from a distance, but I didn't attempt to move. I just wanted to soak myself in the water, and maybe forget everything and anything that was going on now. It was my only escape from this life. Reality.

I didn't hear any door open, but arms circled around me and held on to me like I would break to pieces if they let go. I let him hold me, mostly because his touch comforted me. It was like he was trying to shelter me from the storm that was raging on. He just sat there, didn't attempt to move me or talk to me, and I loved that. His thumb gently rubbed soothing circles on the small of my back, his grip on my hand tight. The silence was perfect. And in that moment, in his arms, I realized I never wanted to let go.


	7. Chapter 7

here we go!

I didn't know how long it took to calm me down, but I did, eventually. My clothes were stuck to my skin, soaking wet, and I was drenched from head to toe, shivering hard. Jack had carried me into the comforts of the cab, despite everything, and drove us all into garage. I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings, still a little shaken from what had happened just now. Seth had pulled me to his side and placed a protective arm around my trembling shoulder, allowing me to soak in the warmth of his touch. I was so freaking cold I felt like I had eaten 8 tubs of Ben and Jerry's and caught a severe case of frostbite, so severe it felt like my head had been buried under ice and caught in a snowdrift. After I got over that, I started to feel pathetic. Pathetic and weak. I was the one holding all of them back. I was sure whatever Sara and Seth had came here for was much more important than the wimpy kid sitting at the back seat between them, crying for no damn reason. They could have simply left and never turned back, but they didn't. I felt like a failure, cause I know that I had failed them. Wasn't the strong girl they thought I was.

Sara squeezed my hand, eyes sparkling with concern and worry, and pulled me out of the cab, along with Seth. Jack was approaching the table in the garage, looking worn and cautious. I wonder if it was because of me.

"Hello? Anyone here?" Jack said, his voice echoing through the empty place. Something, or rather, someone, shifted behind the table, then shouted back.

"We're closed!" Jack looked slightly uneasy at first, but slowly straightened up at cleared his throat.

"Oh there you are. Yeah, I know you're closed, but, uh, we've experienced a little bit of car trouble…" Jack looked beyond nervous. This might have been the first time I had ever seen him like that, stumbling for words.

"So, I was hoping that maybe…"

"We're still closed. You should've experienced your car trouble when we were open." Well this guy had one hell of an attitude. And was probably as stubborn as me, or maybe a little less, eh?

"Well, I'll work on that next time. This time, I really need you to…" Sara touched Jack's arm, trying to catch his attention. Jack looked down at Sara with a raised eyebrow, seemingly annoyed that he was interrupted from his debate with the mechanic.

"Jack Bruno… The only thing that will convince Eddie Cortez to reopen for business...would be a significant amount of money." She said wisely, tapping her temple a little as though she either had a migraine or she was in deep thought. Eddie's head snapped in her direction, confusion written all over his face.

"Wait a minute. Do I know you?"

"No, absolutely not, you don't know them from anywhere. I'll pay you double your rate." Jack pushed Sara behind him, veering from the original topic.

"Why not triple?"

"Done!" Eddie looked on in disbelief at the stack of cash Jack handed him, but looked even worse when he saw the state of Jack's cab.

"What'd you get in a fight with a Rhinocerus? Poor Rhino." Eddie commented while running a hand over the cab's hood.

"Poor rhino, I know!" Jack laughed along, causing the twins to follow his example and do some really awkward laughing. I nudged both in the ribs to get them to stop, unable to contain the soft chuckle that escaped my lips. Eddie shook his head.

"I don't even know where to start with this baby."

"Well, where you can start is replacing the front shocks, and the tie rods, and patch up the radiator fix the exhaust and if you have 4 tires, I'll take those too… you got one hour." Jack piped in, pulling us away as Eddie stared on in shock. Poor guy.

We walked out onto the streets, me still unable to stop shivering. It didn't help that the rain was relentless, still beating down hard on my already damp shirt. Seth must have noticed my state of cold, because the next thing he did was completely out of character. He pulled off his jacket and slipped it on my body, then conveniently looked away. I looked at him, then at his jacket on my wet body, then back at him, and smiled.

"Thanks." I walked forward, towards Jack, who was surveying the town. It was like any other, a nice homey feeling I had missed since Vegas happened, and held on to his hand.

"Jack." He looked at me, then at the jacket, his eyes narrowing. I rolled my eyes and snapped my fingers in his face, causing him to look back up at me and his eyes to soften.

"What are we going to do about those two?" I looked back to see Seth watching me intently, an unknown expression written on his face and Sara, looking around in wonder.

"I don't know." Jack said honestly, sighing. I squeezed his hand and smiled at him, shaking my head.

"No, I know. We need to help them, do whatever they need to do, because they trusted us enough to let us in. They told us who they are, Jack, that can't just be nothing. Besides, alien or not, they are still teenagers. Like me. I know you'd never leave me in my time of need. We can't do that either."

"It's not that, Sandra. It's difficult for me, to put your life in danger to help a bunch of strangers. You are important to me, Sandra, you know that right? I can't afford to lose you, like I lost my sister. You're the only thing left that's family." Jack looked lost, and I felt a kind of sadness weigh me down.

"You're not going to lose me, Jack. I promise. But you might lose them. They need us, Jack. They're counting on us to lead the way." I tugged on Jack's hand so he could stop.

"Listen, Jack. Don't worry about me. I'm going to be okay, and it's not me who is going to be in danger. It's those weird but amazing twins we've met less than 24 hours ago, but here we are. Fate brought them to us, and we can't let go. You've got that?" Jack nodded, chuckling a little.

"You're just like your mother. So much of a talker, you can't outsmart her with your mouth." And for once, even though he was talking about my parents, I smiled.

We arrived in a bustling diner in the town, its doors wide open to invite people in. The smell that wafted through the air reminded me that I hadn't eaten since breakfast. God, I was starving.

"Over here… come on, sit, sit. Sit down." Jack ushered us in. After my little pep talk with him, he seemed to have assumed all responsibility over us. I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. He stared around warily, when suddenly Sara piped in.

"I hope you do not act upon your thought of making a fast break with your niece… out of the back door of Ray's, escaping Stoney Creek. Never to look back at us again." I gaped at him in horror. How could he? After all that talk? And I thought I had gotten it through his thick-skulled head. What a waste of energy.

"H...how…how do you know that?"

"My sister also has the gift of telepathy. She can read the minds of those nearest to her" Seth added, his face returning to its usual stony expression. My eyebrows flew skywards. Aww, damn it. Now I can't even think freely? Jack looked downright pissed off.

"Really? Well, you tell your sister that here on Earth, reading minds? Very rude. Don't do that." Jack was about to say something when a blonde waitress came over with a bright smile on her face.

"Guys! Welcome to Ray's! My name is Tina, and I'm gonna be your server." She directed her gaze to us and gasped. "Wow, look at the three of you." My heartbeat quickened. Did she know who they were?

"Ah… what'd you mean look at the three of them? They look like just three regular, innocent… uh, all American kids." Jack stuttered, laughing awkwardly. I shot a glare at him. Way to be unsuspicious.

"Well, it looked like they just rolled around in a pigpen… right before dinner, that's all." Jack seemed to relax a little at that, when a man walked up to Tina.

"Evening, Tina!" Tina spun around, her smile widening, if that was even possible. She was one happy lady.

"Sheriff Anthony!" She greeted, and for some reason I thought of the ways we were supposed to greet sheriffs. I mean, were you supposed to bow like you do to kings and queens? Or just call their names and be like, "Hi there, I am Sandra!". There's also the salute, but I doubt that would work very well.

"Your table's waitin' for you. I'm going to send you a round of freedom pies huh?"

"Sounds good. Thank you." He walks away, and there goes my chance to do a splendid bow. Oh well. Tina turns back to us after getting the pies ordered.

"Alright. Now why don't the three of you come with me and we'll get you all cleaned up, huh?" I nodded, feeling oddly disgusted with the grime on my body. I needed… to get rid… of it.

"Hurry back!" Jack shouted after us as he picks up the menu, but not before looking around again.

"Why are you guys here?" Tina looks from Seth to Sara to me. My eyes widen to the size of those saucers containing ketchup for the frito fries. She knew?

"We are here for a mission. Our planet is not what it is before. It has been polluted and we are here to find the evidence we need to show the government we can regenerate the plants and trees in our planet. Sandra here, has been on Earth since birth. She is a half-breed and her parents died being hunted down by our military. She is currently on the mission with us." Ouch. That hurt. He is seriously insensitive about girls' feelings alright.

"What about you, Tina?" Sara asked in concern. Tina sighs, the smile finally wearing off her face.

"I have come to Earth to find a new life and in hopes of settling down and starting my social experiment. I want to find out more about Earth's culture." She turns to me. "Maybe you might be able to help me after all this is over."

Suddenly, Seth pulls me to his side.

"She will be following us back after all this is over." He says, in a stiff and cold tone. I stare at him in shock.

"I am?" I felt oddly violated. How come I never get to make my own decisions?

Seth stirred me away from Tina, who immediately knew when she isn't wanted and went to the kitchens. I spun around to face him, very pissed and angry.

"What the hell, Seth? I never said I was going to your planet." Seth flinched at my words, hurt and pain replacing his features. I immediately felt sorry for him but waited for his explanation.

"Look, I'm sorry for making decisions for you but I do not wish for you to stay on this planet any further. It will only jeopardize your life and do Jack Bruno further harm. That is not very desirable." He said in barely a whisper, his eyes trained on the ground. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Well too bad, 'cause it's my decision whether i want to stay or not, and I'm not leaving Jack all alone." My voice lowered to a whisper. "I'm all he has you know."

Seth looks up, his eyes clouded in sadness. It's probably one of the first time he has ever showed that much emotion ever since he first came. I knew these type of people, because I am one of them. They put up brick walls around them, and when one slowly tears them down, they need to shatter the glass border they put around themselves. And all that leads to is hurt, because those people are going to find out that we are not worth it and stop trying so hard to tear down our defenses. The broken glass shards are going to hurt us when we try to pick them back up and make ourselves whole again. And every single time we get hurt, we learn from our mistakes. We improve on building our walls and make them stronger. So it's harder for others to tear it down and reach us. Harder to help us. Harder to hurt us.

But something about this special blonde alien makes me start wondering how long my walls are going to last.


End file.
